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New Sydney fintech hub Stone & Chalk has appointed Alex Scandurra as its CEO to lead the platform as it garners startup clients seeking to disrupt banking. The London Business School MBA Scandurra was Head of Strategic Partnerships & Barclay’s Accelerator Program, which is powered by TechStars.

Startupbootcamp Fintech today announced the 10 startups that have been selected to join its 100-day accelerator programme.

While based both in London and Singapore, this is the accelerator’s first foray into Singapore and the Asia Pacific region since its launch in 2014. The accelerator also has active programmes in cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, London, Israel and Istanbul, catered to different verticals like IoT and Smart Tech.

Berlin based banking startup Number26 just raised a $10.6M Series A round courtesy of Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. Existing investors Redalpine and Earlybird also participated in the round with Daniel S. Aegerter.

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Amidst continuing bank crises and stock market woes, the number of new businesses registered in the UK reached 581,173 in 2014 – a record high. It’s a telling statistic not only for the UK, but for other parts of the world in which advanced technology, startup accelerators, and new funding options are empowering individuals to turn their ideas into companies more than ever before. A closer look at the forces behind this entrepreneurial surge reveals that FinTech – with its innovative options for raising capital, purchasing and payments, cashflow management, and general administrative tools – is a major enabler in the startup ecosystem.

Tumbling interest rates in Europe have put some banks in an inconceivable position: owing money on loans to borrowers.

At least one Spanish bank, Bankinter SA, the country’s seventh-largest lender by market value, has been paying some customers interest on mortgages by deducting that amount from the principal the borrower owes.

The many challengers to cash—checks, debit cards, credit cards, and so forth—are used mostly for high-value transactions. Small sums, which make up the majority of all payments in the United States and globally, are still ruled by cash. After all, nobody writes out a check for a sandwich. And in many places around the world, using a card for small payments incurs additional fees.

The total value of the digital currency Bitcoin is now approximately $3.4 billion, and many companies and investors are working to prove that the technology can make financial services cheaper and more useful.

But Stanford professor David Mazières thinks he has a faster, more flexible, and more secure alternative. If Mazières is correct, his technology could make digital payments and other transactions cheaper, safer, and easier—particularly across borders. He released the design for his system in a white paper last Wednesday.